The WSJ reported that the Pentagon plans to purchase thousands of drones over the next two years that can fly to their targets, confuse radars, overcome enemy defenses, fire missiles and gather intelligence. Creating unmanned aircraft quickly and cheaply is not easy even if the mass production of large and small drones is essential for the American defense to counter China, notoriously equipped with a considerable arsenal that includes thousands of missiles, jets, ships and drones.
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(by Andrea Pinto) Two Russian Su-30 Flanker fighters took off on September 21st with their transponders turned off so as not to be intercepted by Alliance radars. It's a shame for them though because NATO satellites and planes are always operational day and night 365 days a year. Once the two intruders […]
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The Chief of Staff of the Air Force general of the air team, Luca Goretti, was audited yesterday at the Defense Commission of the Chamber of Deputies. The need for greater economic investments to modernize the fleets and guarantee training, the research-industry partnership on technology in the defense sector, the development of the sixth generation Global Combat [...]
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Yesterday, writes Defense News, Canada announced its intention to purchase 88 F-35A Joint Strike Fighters for a commercial value of 14 billion US dollars. Defense Minister Anita Anand said in an online briefing that the Royal Canadian Air Force will receive its first four F-35s manufactured by Lockheed Martin in [...]
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Lockheed Martin in a press release announced that it has signed, together with the F-35 Joint Program Office, the contract for the production and delivery of an additional 398 F-35s for a value of 30 billion dollars. The fifth generation aircraft, covered by the contract, will be destined for the United States to international partners and [...]
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The F-35 Joint Program Office has grounded some new F-35 Joint Strike Fighters following an incident Dec. 15 when an aircraft went down on a runway in Texas. The pilot managed to eject. In a statement released yesterday to Defense News, the F-35 Joint Program Office confirmed that it had stopped some F-35s without [...]
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(by Massimiliano D'Elia) In-flight refueling operated by a drone is no longer a taboo, today thanks to the MQ-25 Stingray it is possible to do so by dramatically increasing the missions of 35th generation fighters such as the F-35. The drone is produced by Boeing and will complement the FXNUMX-C on American aircraft carriers, thus doubling their range of [...]
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In a note, the Defense General Staff announced that, in compliance with the directive of the Minister of Defense on the "Security and Defense Strategy for the Mediterranean" issued in May 2022, it was decided to expand on the strategic, operational and tactical, of the maritime surveillance operation "Mare Safe", launched on 12 March 2015, in [...]
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(by Andrea Pinto) In the middle of the Mediterranean on November 21st our Armed Forces participated in an important and exclusive exercise, reserved only for those who are now able to integrate their capabilities, thanks to modern weapon systems and fully interoperable. The aircraft carrier of the British Navy Queen Elizabeth and the [...]
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Defense Minister Lorenzo Guerini, on a visit to London, met with UK Secretary of State for Defense Ben Wallace. The meeting, after the one that took place on 11 June last aboard the Nave Cavour of our Navy, allowed the two defense chiefs to discuss the international situation "at 360 degrees" [...]
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The multinational air exercise 'Falcon Strike 32' kicks off in Amendola in the province of Foggia, home to the 2021 ° Stormo dell'Aeronautica Militare. Until June 15, over 50 aircraft will be engaged for the impressive aerial exercise, including fighters, transport and refueling aircraft in flight and other support assets. For the first time in Europe, as part of [...]
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(by Mario Galati) Even Tom Kington on Defense News spoke from the other side of the world, from the United States, of the "querelle", which is affecting the Italian Navy and Air Force: the object of the dispute is the F-35B, that vertical take-off. The timing of the article makes you smile considering the appeal of the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General Alberto Rosso, who spoke at the hearing at the IV [...]
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The US has decided what to do with the F-35s destined for Turkey, the Defense Department gave its final answer on Monday evening. The US Air Force will purchase eight F-35A jets originally planned by Lockheed Martin for Turkey for $ 862 million. The agreement also provides for another six F-35As already built for Turkey to be allocated [...]
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The program of the Stovl component, with vertical take-off of the F-35 "aircraft, is intended to replace two flight lines of the Italian Air Force (AMX and TORNADO, about 200 aircraft) and the embarked flight line of the Italian Navy (AV8B) which have already completed or are nearing the end of their operational life. In particular, the decision [...]
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Yesterday, US President Donald Trump spoke about the F-35's global supply chain and the possibility of bringing more jobs to the United States. Trump spoke to Fox Business Network's Maria Bartiromo about the F-35. The journalist asked the President if he had thought of a program to incentivize the main US industries - such as [...]
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Defense One reported that Lockheed Martin has paused production of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft at a Japanese factory of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries due to the outbreak of the #coronavirus outbreak. This was stated by a senior Pentagon official. To some employees of an Italian company interested in the production of parts of the F-35, of [...]
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The Pentagon has announced a deal worth $ 34 billion for the new batch of stealth jets from aerospace company Lockheed Martin. Under the terms of the deal announced on Tuesday, which includes jets for the US and allies, the US Department of Defense has purchased 478 aircraft. Ellen Lord, the top official [...]
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(by Andrea Pinto) General Pasquale Preziosa, former Chief of Staff of the Air Force until March 2016, was interviewed by Difesa Online, where he analyzed in all contexts, the various industrial programs that have affected the Italian Air Force . More than an interview, it is a "unique" document to be read and made to be read [...]
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With a solemn flag-raising at the military airport of Keflavik in Iceland, the NATO operation of Interim Air Policing called Northern Ligtning officially began. For the first time, a fifth generation fighter will be deployed on an Air Policing mission, giving Italy the privilege of being the first Alliance country to use the F-35 aircraft in a NATO operation. They will in fact be [...]
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The news was reported by NATO's Allied Air Command Public Affair Office. For the first time, fifth-generation aircraft will be deployed in NATO's Air Policing mission to protect Icelandic airspace for three weeks in October. Italy will be the first of the allies to deploy [...]
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The news has just been published by Defense One that Lockheed Martin wants to propose to the Pentagon a solution to reduce the cost of operating the F-35: sign a maintenance contract for five years instead of negotiating a new one every year. Another proposal is to supply a large number of spare parts to keep 80 percent [...]
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The price that Poland will have to pay for the purchase of US F-35 fighter jets will be similar to that proposed to Belgium: the two countries are buying very similar lots. Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said today, adding that “it is very likely that it will not exceed 6,5 billion dollars. This […]
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“I don't even want to think of a return to the government of Renzi, Lotti and Boschi, natural disasters. We reason about everything, but not about this ". (by Andrea Pinto) In this sentence there is the synthesis of the strategy of the leader of the Northern League who wants to avoid the return of the PD to the government at all costs. An M5S government, [...]
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(by Andrea Pinto) Hon. Raffaele Volpi (Lega), Undersecretary of State for Defense is increasingly a staunch supporter of the F-35 program, so much so that he repeats almost like a mantra at all levels a sentence: "it is technological-military development and strengthening of the Euro- Atlantic. I believe, Volpi points out, that the F35s are not only a military instrument but also [...]
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A Phase IV flight training was planned at the International Flight Training School of the 61 ° Stormo dell'Aeronautica Militare based in #Galatina, in the province of Lecce with the aid of the Training Management and Information System (TMIS). This is Leonardo's advanced management software with the precious collaboration of the Air Force School Command. The TMIS system is currently [...]
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The Chinese Air Force has made public a photo of the stealth fighter, J-20 which has become, as some Chinese analysts claim, a military fighter already operational for the defense of the country. The existence of the aircraft is nothing new as it was already known, however the photo released last week shows a J-20 with the number [...]
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After eighteen years of problematic and controversial development, the Lockheed F-35 Lightning stealth fighter may soon go into mass production, many of its bugs being fixed after the initial delivery of four hundred units. However, a June 2019 scoop from Defense News reporters Valerie Insinna, David Larter and Aaron Mehta revealed […]
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The Pentagon has cut the strings on the training program for Turkish pilots for the # F-35. According to American media reports, 26 Turkish pilots at Luke Air Force Base will no longer be able to continue the training program, in relation to concerns about Ankara's purchase plan for the system [...]
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After the probable "stop" to supply the # F-35, Turkey is increasingly looking to the Russian #Sukhoi jets, or the Su-57, a direct competitor of the F-35. The news was reported by the Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak. The Russian fifth-generation Su-57 fighter aircraft is a single-seat stealth multi-role aircraft designed for air superiority and [...]
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In England, the first doubts arise about the fifth generation F-35 multirole fighter which could be subject to technological problems, lack of spare parts and limited operation. The British newspaper "The Times" writes this, recalling that the UK Ministry of Defense has already purchased 17 F-35s and plans to acquire 138 in [...]
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(by Andrea Pinto) The Undersecretary of State for Defense, honorable Angelo #Tofalo yesterday on the facebook profile thundered against his Defense Minister, Elisabetta Trenta: "I tried for a year to be next to Minister Trenta and to explain to her that the enemy does not is Salvini, or who knows who else, but who, within the apparatus, wants to continue to [...]
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The US Senate Armed Services Commission intends to block the sale of the # F-35 fighter bombers to #Turkey and remove Ankara from the #Lockheed Martin program, should the NATO ally continue its plan to purchase the system. Russian missile defense # S-400. The draft of the Defense Authorization Commission [...]
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US Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said at the end of an event at the Center International Meridian in Washington that a U.S. delegation will meet Polish defense officials in May to discuss the costs and benefits of the F- 35 for the armed forces of Poland: "We want to deepen the relationship between Poland [...]
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke about the F-35 during a defense industry fair in Istanbul: “without the contribution of Turkey, the development project of the F-35 multi-role fighter is doomed to failure. In recent weeks, the United States has threatened to exclude Ankara from the project if it were to acquire the [...]
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The Japanese Self-Defense Air Force F-35A stealth fighter-bomber that sank into the Pacific Ocean earlier this month has been found, and recovery operations are already underway. This was announced yesterday by General Charles Brown, commander of the US Pacific Air Force. The US and Japan had undertaken extensive research operations since [...]
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The United States and Japan have not yet ascertained the causes of the accident, but according to the newspaper "Nikkei" the suspicions focus on the on-board system responsible for the generation and delivery of oxygen (Obogs), which for years has caused problems for the developers of the 'F-35, and which has been responsible for several accidents in the past. Obogs is a system that [...]
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Lots of news for Lockeed Martin's F-35 platform costs, according to the latest Department of Defense Acquisition Report sent to Congress last week and obtained by Bloomberg News, The total estimated price for research and procurement has increased of 22 billion dollars, adjusted for inflation, according to the latest annual report [...]
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(by Andrea Pinto) The CEO of Leonardo Alessandro Profumo, in an article by Tom Kingdom on Defense News, expressed his opinion on the German embargo against Saudi Arabia, spoke about Brexit and the repercussions on the industry of European defense, also in light of the two programs for sixth generation aircraft, the British Tempest and the FACS [...]
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The US Air Force's most advanced fighter jet was first deployed to the Middle East. The Central Command of the United States Air Forces stated in a statement that the F-35A Lightning II of the 388th Fighter Wing and the 419th Fighter Wing, both stationed at the Hill Air Force [...]
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The United States and Japan fear that the remains of the F-35 that fell into the sea last week could fall into the hands of the Russians or Chinese. The US and Japan have covered the affected sea area with a massive search device. The research involves P-8A Poseidon aircraft, intended for anti-submarine combat, and the destroyer Uss Stethem, equipped with [...]
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(by Andrea Pinto) The Minister of Defense, Elisabetta Trenta, guest of "Circo Massimo", on Radio Capital, said that the F35 program "will be revised, but the modalities for the revision and the conditions will be dealt with directly by Conte together with Trump. Resized? It can mean changing pace, acquiring, or buying less ”. The campaign continues [...]
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Japan is still searching at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean for the wreckage of its F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, two days after the plane crashed in the waters off northern Japan. Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya, who addressed the media on Friday morning in Tokyo, said the navy [...]
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Japan accident F-35, the pilot had asked to interrupt the mission. Tokyo: ready for the updated 22 F
The pilot of the Japanese Air Force F-35A, lost at sea on the evening of Tuesday 9 April, during a training flight off the coast of northern Japan, had asked to stop the mission shortly before Misawa Air Base lost contact with the aircraft. The Japanese media reported it. The aircraft had disappeared [...]
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Today a Japanese F-35A disappeared from the shores of northern Japan. A research mission is currently underway. Local media reported that contact with Lockheed Martin's stealth fighter was lost just before 7:30 am. local time, with the aircraft's last reported position identified in the Pacific Ocean at approximately [...]
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(by Andrea Pinto) Adnkronos reported in an agency the tortuous story of the delivery of the first two new generation vertical take-off aircraft, destined for the Air Force rather than the Navy: "A real 'snatch' by of the blue weapon. Behind there would be the 'hand' of the Chief of Defense Staff, Enzo Vecciarelli, who from the Air Force [...]
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US officials officially announced that they have stopped supplying F-35 fighter aircraft parts to Turkey due to Ankara's decision to move forward with the purchase of the Russian surface-to-air missile system (S-400). The delivery of parts and manuals necessary to prepare the planned delivery of the aircraft will therefore be blocked, [...]
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Last week Reuters reported that the US may soon freeze the supply of F-35 aircraft to Turkey, a move that could emphasize the rift between Ankara and Washington. Turkey will most likely be excluded from the F-35 program. The experts' dilemma is on Ankara's fundamental role in the process of building the [...]
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The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter did not stand up to the comparison in aerial combat with the older F-15s during US military exercises in Nevada. The confrontation between Lockheed Martin's F-35 and Boeing's F-15EX is not only fought in the skies but also spills in and around Congress, which is thinking [...]
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At the end of the meeting at Palazzo Chigi between Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and Defense Minister Elisabetta Trenta, the Government's line on the F-35 and on weapons programs emerged: "In the coming months, all the defense sectors, under the coordination of Minister Trenta, will be called to carry out a survey of the specific defensive needs of Italy, in [...]
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The Defense Staff considered it appropriate to correct the draft of an article reported by La Stampa by Francesco Grignetti, entitled "Staff against Defense", according to which there would be a conflict between the Armed Forces and the government on the revision of the program F-35. The Defense Staff underlines that what [...]
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389 million euros are to be paid to Lockheed Martin to honor the supply of the F35 fighters already delivered to Italy. The invoices, as reported by La Stampa, show the date of the Gentiloni government, since then the Defense has never ordered payments. The dicastery, caught in the chestnut: “We will immediately fulfill what is due. Within [...]
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Singapore will seek to purchase four F-35 Lightning IIs, with the option of purchasing eight more, the Southeast Asian nation's defense minister said. Speaking in parliament on Friday, Ng Eng Hen said Singapore would send an official letter of request to the United States for the purchase of the fifth-generation aircraft. Has […]
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Capacity is the strategic key of the Air Force. To achieve the right level of capability and to meet mission requirements, the Air Force will have to rely on a perfect mix of aircraft. US Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein pointed out that the acquisition of multiple platforms does not detract from [...]
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The German Ministry of Defense has officially excluded the F-35 fighter from the tender to replace its Tornado fleet. Defense News reports. A ministry official confirmed that the F-35 was not chosen in the competition to replace the 90 Tornado aircraft. The news was also reported for the first time by [...]
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The Aachen agreement between France and Germany could penalize the Italian military industry which needs to actively participate in new programs. The alternative to the Franco-German axis could be to look more closely at the Anglo-Saxon industrial world. Very interesting what is written by Sole24 on the fact that Italy could look to Great Britain, where there is already [...]
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South Korea will purchase two F-35 fighter jets from the United States at the end of March. This was reported by the agency "Yonhap" citing sources familiar with the matter. The two aircraft should be ready for operation between April and May and be assigned to the fleet in charge of defending the airspace, writes the newspaper. [...]
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The US Air Force is focusing on resolving some cybersecurity issues detected in the F-35's external support systems, as they are considered the easiest entry points for hackers. General Stephen Jost, director of the Air Force's Office of F-35 Integration, told Defense News: “This is an aircraft based essentially […]
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Aviation Report reported that Italy will have two more F-35s and that Belgium is preparing to join the program. The production batches contracted and financed by the Italian Defense go up to LRIP 14 (Low Rate Initial Production) while the FACO of Cameri continues its work of supplying the wing boxes for the entire program [...]
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The F-35 is due to pass operational tests next month - a major milestone that precedes the Pentagon's decision on whether to begin mass production of the jet - but there are already some signs that the F35 could not being able to complete the tests in time. In this regard, the F-35 [...]
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Defense Undersecretary Angelo Tofalo spoke about “Cyberwarfare” at the Cybertech Europe conference. "A project I am already working on is to set up a cybernetic armed force that will have to protect the defense network and at the same time be able to strike". The government's priority, therefore, is to enhance capacity [...]
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Senior US and European military officers agreed to collaborate more closely to help reduce the operating costs of the F 35s. Operating costs were an issue, unanimous thought by military officials from the United States, Israel, Great Britain, Italy, Norway , Denmark, Turkey and the Netherlands. They met in Germany on [...]
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Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is raising awareness in the US Congress to allow Turkey to purchase the Lockheed Martin F-35 aircraft. Not allowing the purchase would cause an interruption in the international supply chain resulting in delays and increased costs for aircraft. "Right now, I oppose the removal of Turkey from the F-35 program", [...]
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Finally someone has clarified the most discussed military industrial program ever. Whenever an editorial is posted on social media, hundreds of comments and criticisms of unsuspecting citizens are made, unwittingly carried away by the mantras of election campaigns. It is much more appealing to talk about the savings resulting from the F-35 cuts than [...]
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Singapore will have to make a decision in the coming months to replace its Lockheed Martin F-16 multi-role fighters with the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter. In an interview with the media on the occasion of Armed Forces and Nation Day, Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen said that despite ongoing updates, […]
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The Minister of Defense Elisabetta Trenta, interviewed by the American military magazine Defense News, talked about Italian international commitments, the solid alliance with the USA, sanctions against Russia and also the controversial F-35 program. "That of the F-35s, says the minister," is a program that we have inherited and about which we have many questions and for this [...]
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The Israel Defense Forces announced on their Twitter account that the Israeli version of the F-35, nicknamed “Adir”, was used in operational missions. "The Adir aircraft are already operational and are flying on operational missions," the tweet said, quoting the head of the Israeli Air Force, General Amikam Norkin. "We are the first in the world to [...]
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The Nova agency announced that, last weekend, the Japanese Defense Minister, Itsunori Onodera, visited the Misawa air base, in Aomori prefecture, a month after the deployment of the first F-fighter-bomber there. 35A supplied to the National Air Self-Defense Forces. During the visit, the minister [...]
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(by Pasquale Preziosa) The foreign ministers / defense of 23 countries of the European Union have given shape to the new permanent structured cooperation (Pesco) in the defense sector. Over 50 projects, defined as concrete, will provide the new joint military capabilities that the European defense of tomorrow will need. The EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy [...]
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Israel has signed a contract with the United States to purchase another 17 F-35 fighters, which will bring the Israeli Air Force fleet to 50 F-35 fighters. The Israeli Defense Minister: "It is a significant and strategic addition to the power of the Air Force". It was announced today. For the first time, the price for this type of [...]
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